"Microsoft's Sneaky Tactics: Malware-like Pop-Ups in Windows 11 Push Users Away from Google"

Microsoft has been using malware-like pop-ups in Windows 11 to persuade users to switch from Google and Chrome to Bing and Edge. These intrusive pop-ups, which appear above apps and games, ask users to change their default search engine to Microsoft Bing in Chrome. The pop-ups are not normal notifications and are not connected to the Windows 11 notification center. They are rogue executable files that have been found in the c:\windows\temp\mubstemp directory and are digitally signed by Microsoft. Microsoft has used various prompts in the past to encourage users to switch, including pop-ups inside Chrome, on the Windows taskbar, and after Windows updates. Microsoft has stated that they are aware of the issue and have paused the notifications while they investigate and take appropriate action.